. >>> the house has passed a bill that would prevent the united states from hitting the debt ceiling. at least right away. it's dubbed the no budget no pay act. it was proposed by republicans and it lets the treasury department borrow money until mid-may, as long as congress passes a budget by april 15th. if lawmakers don't come up with a blueprint for the budget, the measure states their pay will be withheld. constitution doesn't allow the no pay thing to really happen, so that is a pr stunt. any way, that's why the act passed. 33 republicans, 111 democrats voted against it. one dem who did, congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz and she tells us the bill wasn't a clean debt ceiling increase and only prolongs economic uncertainty. it only extents it for a few months so she's right about that. >>> in the last 48 hours or so, u.s. cargo planes made at least five trips into mali transporting about 80 french troops and more than 124 tons of supplies. a spokesman for the u.s./africa command tells us the airlifts began monday, are going to go on for several more days. i couldn't help but n